The Return Of Nimueh
by RosalynOfTheNight
Summary: It's set directly after 3.13. it's a kind of what I'd like to see in the next season. A vision of a dark future, a new beginning, to save the future a life must be sacrificed and Nimueh returns. Can Merlin save the future?
1. Prologe

The Return of Nimueh

By Rosalyn

**Genre:** Drama, Angst (Romance)  
**Pairings**: Arthur/Gwen, Merlin/Nimueh, later evtl. Merlin/Morgana  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing than the idea ;)  
**Note: **Thanks to Vicky for the beta 3  
I'd really like your feedback and you suggestions after the prologe.  
Enjoy!

Prologue

Her whole body aches. She could feel it in her every bone. And she can hear muffled noises all around but she does not know where they come from. She cannot see anything. It's all dark. Maybe she has her eyes closed but she is not quite sure. She hardly even knows if she's standing or lying on the floor. It feels all the same. She has just awakened but it feels like she's fainting again.

Then suddenly it all becomes clearer for her. She now recognizes that she is lying on something, probably a bed. Also the sounds get clearer. She can make out different voices. Male and female.

But where is she? And who is she? She cannot remember. Slowly she opens her eyes and blinks. It's all blurry and misty. She blinks again several times and her view clears. She can see silhouettes and shadowed figures. They are standing above her and look at her. She's confused and frightened. What are they doing with her? Why is she here?

"She's awake" says one of the voices and then speaking to her: "It's alright. You're safe". Safe? Had she been in danger? Why does she feel scared then? She blinks again. And she notices a woman in a long brown cloak.

"Here, drink this" the woman says and hands her a cup of water. She hesitates and looks fearfully around. But as she feels how dry her throat is she reaches for the cup and empties it quickly.

"Where am I?" she finally manages to ask.

The woman smiles kindly. "You're in Avalon"

Avalon? She doesn't know where that is but she thinks that she has heard of it before.

"And who am I?"

It sounds ridiculous to her but she has to ask.

"I don't know" the woman answers full of compassion.

"We found you in the lake and thought you were dead as we pulled you out. But luckily you weren't. Anyway, I am Jenna."

She was told to rest so she does.

In this night she dreams vividly.  
In her dreams there are beasts, magical creatures, knights and sorcerers.

There are people screaming and dying. There is blood and fire everywhere. A light flashes through the vision and then the dream changes.

It is silent now and the shadow of a man on a horse appears. A knight, he holds a sword.

And then there is a king and a golden, glowing pair of eyes. She knows these eyes.

Suddenly they fade with a scream in the chaos of a battle field among the clanging of the blades and the screaming. And the knight with the sword falls from his horse…

She awakens suddenly with a scream and sits up straight on her bed. She's scared to death. Her breath goes fast and her heart beats even faster. Sweat runs down her face.

Slowly she calms down and then she smiles.

Now she remembers. She remembers who she is and everything. She knows even more. She knows what will be.

She gets up and puts her cloak on. She is determined and so she makes her way through the night, leaving the safety of Avalon.

She has to make sure that it is the truth, what she has just seen in her dream. It was a vision and she has to do everything to prevent what it has predicted. Maybe she will finally get her revenge. Maybe this is her last chance to get justice and save the future. 

~tbc~ 


	2. First step into the future

Chapter 1 ~ First Step into the future

There is a task he has to do. It is important that he hides the sword where nobody can get it except the one for whom it was made for. So the young warlock walks through the forest searching for such a place. And then he finds it, a huge, heavy stone.

He nods and unfolds the cloth where he has Excalibur kept in. He takes it out and holds it above the stone, murmuring a magic spell. The sword glows and sparks fly around as the sharp metal blade crushes into the stone and runs through it like butter. "It is done" Merlin thinks. The sword stays in the stone now. Only the great future king will be able to pull it out.

"That's it. The battle is over, the army of the dead is beaten, Morgause is dead and Morgana is gone. It's over." With this thought he makes his way back.

But it is not over. Not by far. This is only the beginning. Just like Morgana told him.

~~~

Back in Camelot it is quiet. A strange silence lies over the city. Or maybe it only feels like that because the battle sounds, the clanging of the blades crushing onto another and the screams are gone.

But Merlin has no time to think about things like that. He has to go and help Prince Arthur dress and prepare. He and his knights are going to look for Morgana.

He really has to hurry now, because he has also to prepare his own plan.

"Merlin!" it echoes through the corridor and Merlin is startled. He sighs and prepares for the on coming harangue.

"Where the hell have you been?" The Prince shouts at him.

"Sorry, I had to do something." He answers, looking down, blushing.

"Right sure you have something to do." he says sarcastically. "Get my clothes. Go!"

"Yes, sire!"

And the Prince's manservant runs away.

"I wonder if he will ever change?" Arthur wonders and walks on to the king's chambers.

"How is my father?" he asks Gaius who stands beside the bed where Uther is lying asleep.

"He will be fine soon. Physically. He just needs rest so that his injuries can heal fully. But I don't know what the state of his mind will be."

"What do you mean by that?" the young Prince asks.

"He might be traumatized. But don't worry; he'll be alright, sire."

"Yeah, I hope so. I cannot be away from Camelot too long. As long as he isn't fully recovered I have to take his place."

"Yes, sire, you have to do your duty."

"But I also have to find Morgana soon."

Gaius smiles. "You will do this all right, sire. Just go."

"Thank you, Gaius. I will leave now." Arthur turns and walks out of the room, a little delighted and in a lighter mood than before.

He has always known that he will be the King of Camelot in the future but that had always been so far away and now he sees this day approaching faster and faster and it scares him. He fears the responsibility it takes and if he will make the right decisions. He has thought about this a lot the last two days and it lay heavy on his heart like a burden. But the words of the court physician had comforted him a little. So he walks confidentially on to what he is going to do now.

When he arrives at the Court Yard, in his travelling cloak and followed by Merlin, his knights are already waiting with the horses.

He has not arrived at them when he spots Guinevere coming towards him.

She stops in front of him and he smiles at her.

"I just want to wish you good luck. You'll find her."

She's looking at him and smiles, too.

Arthur gives a nod to the knights and they jump onto their horses.

He turns back to Gwen and gives her a brief kiss.

Then he takes seat on the back of his black horse as well.

"Good luck!" says Merlin cheerfully.

And he and Gwen watch from behind them as they ride off, wishing them the best.


	3. The Fairy in the Cave

**Note: Hey I'm back and I'm so sorry for the delay the chaper was ready a long time ago but my computer broke down-.- **

**So here's now the next and longer (without beta yet) chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chap 2****: The Fairy in the Cave**

She is on her knees at the edge of a small stream staring into the slow flowing water beneath her. She takes out some herbs from under her cloak and lets them fall slowly into the water muttering some words in the language of the Old Religion. The water moves and small circles build. As the little waves vanish and the surface becomes still again, a picture appears.

The sorceress smiles. What she sees pleases her.

He's leaving. The city is unguarded, the king is weak, a perfect target.

Her heart beats a little faster.

By the movement of her hand the picture fades and she rises.

"When you're back you'll get a surprise, young warlock. I'm looking forward to seeing your face more than you could ever know.

Hiding under her cloak, she starts walking towards the city of Camelot ahead.

Merlin comes out of his room and almost runs into Gaius who is about to clean his equipment.

"Sorry." the boy mumbles as he passes his mentor.

"Where are you going so fast?" the old physician asks.

Merlin stops and hesitates.

"I have to go somewhere..."

Gaius raises his eyebrows. The younger lowers his head, looking at the ground. He hates lying to Gaius.

"I have to follow Arthur" he finally answers.

Gaius nods in understanding.

"You know what your doing? Be careful."

Merlin nods and waves goodbye.

He tries to leave the City unseen.

He follows the route Arthur and the other knights, Sir Leon, Sir Lancelot and Sir Gwaine, have taken at a far distance. He has no problem following them.

They are now far away from Camelot and it gets dark. The sun is already descending at the horizon and the knights stop to rest. It is to no advantage to continue the search at night and it is dangerous as well. Merlin thinks about what will happen if they find Morgana.

If she will not cooperate and it comes to a fight he has to intervene. It would be dangerous and maybe he will have to use magic against her.

At dawn the next day, they continue their search. Merlin doubts that they will find her within the next three days and thinks that they mayl have to stop and return to Camelot.

He has fallen behind, lost in his thoughts when suddenly he sees the small group of men in front of a cave. They have found a camp nearby.

"There must be someone in there" Merlin hears Arthur saying. Arthur takes the lead as the men enter the dark hole that is the cave. Merlin follows them unnoticed.

"Hello? Anyone in here?"

At first there is only the echo of Arthur's voice and then Merlin hears something moving and a figure appears. As it comes into the light of the sun that shines in through the entrance of the cave all of them stand stunned.

"Morgana!."

As she realizes who stands in front of her, she is stunned, too. The expression on her face changes from shock to anger.

"What do you want? Leave me alone!" she cries.

Arthur takes a step towards her. "We want to bring you back."

"No!" Morgana shouts. "Uther will put me into the dungeons. I will never return to Camelot. I can't!"

"What about Morgause?" he asks in a soft tone, trying to calm her.

Morgana lowered her head. Her eyes narrow.

"She's gone. My sister's dead. I`m all alone now and I will never forgive Uther for what he has done to me and the ones I love."

"You're not alone Morgana. We're here to help you."

Arthur and the knights turn in surprise as Merlin speaks.

"Merlin what are you doing here?" Arthur bursts out.

"I followed you in case you needed some help." he grins.

"You're a complete idiot!"

Merlin still grins.

"Let me speak to her."

Arthur raises an eyebrow.

"Merlin?" Morgana looks at him with suspicion.

"How can I trust you? You were there when Morgause died, weren't you?

Did you do it?"

"Morgana, please listen" he says, stepping towards her.

"She enchanted you. She used you for her plans. She wanted the power to rule and used your connection to the throne. She used you as an ally who trusts her and will carry out her plan for her. She was evil and you're not Morgana. It was all her fault. I know you didn't want to do all that. You felt alone and so it was easy for her to manipulate you. You are everything to Uther. You're his daughter, he will forgive you."

He notices the tears coming up in her eyes and she sobs quietly.

"I know. She was my sister and I trusted her, I thought she was right. After all that Uther had done, she was the only one who understood me. She was my blood. I finally felt at home and that I belong somewhere."

"You belong in Camelot" Merlin says, taking her hand.

"I`m so sorry," she glances at Arthur for a second. "I thought what i was doing was right. It is all my fault. I believed he,r but she used her magic on me and put me under pressure. I didn`t want to do any harm to you or to innocents."

She sobs again. "Can you forgive me? Merlin?"

He looks in her eyes and sees nothing but coldness. Where is the sparkle that had once had been in her eyes?, he thought.

The tears run freely down her face now. He hasn't seen her like this for a long time and he doesn't believe a word of what she has just said.

"I will." he says.

"And what about Uther?" she looks at Arthur again.

"I don't know." the prince replies. "But you must come with us back to Camelot and convince him that you are innocent. He's in a bad state and will be glad to see you. When he's recovered again."

"I hope so."

"You're his daughter, he cannot abandon you."

She nods and turns to Merlin . "I will make it all up to you. I promise."

They all walk out of the cave back into the bright sunlight.

"Can we really trust her?" Arthur asks Merlin.

Merlin sighs. "I think so"

Lancelot and Gwaine nod in agreement.

Then they start their return, bringing Morgana back. But they don't know what will await them back in Camelot.

"You're a liar!"

Morgana shouts at Arthur.

"You bastard! Your no better than your father! I will punish you all! You'll pay for this!"

As they had returned, Arthur had let Morgana be put into the dungeons. Just to be on the safe side. Merlin had told him that he didn't believe a word she said, that she's still evil and willing to use magic.

She fought hard,cried and screamed.

Arthur makes sure that her prison is well guarded. Merlin hopes that her magic isn't still too powerful and if she breaks free, it is up to him to stop her.

Arthur goes to visit his father. On the way to his chambers he meets Guinevere. When she sees him she runs towards him and he embraces her.

"I'm glad your back. I heard you brought Morgana with you."

He nods and tells her everything.

"But please, Guinevere," he touches her face,

Be careful. We cannot trust her yet"

She tilts her head and smiles at him.

"I'll go and see how my father is." Arthur says straightening himself a little.

He's still looking at her. "See you then" he smiles back and turns to go.

"Arthur." Gwen says. He stops and turns to her again.

"I believe your father is still not very well. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry too much" he says and leaves her.

In Uther's chambers, Gaius is awaiting him with bad news.

"Can I talk to him?" the young prince asks and Gaius shakes his head.

"Im sorry to have to say that he is getting worse. He's got a fever and it will not get better."

"Why is that? What's wrong with him?

"I don't know" Gaius admits.

"But if I cannot find the reason soon, he will die."

Arthur stands there in shock.

"Try" he says quietly.

Gaius nods. "Yes my lord. I'll do what I can."

The physician bows and Arthur leaves. In his own room he is lost in his thoughts and the panic from earlier overcomes him again. But it is not the time to worry about his future now. There is still a lot to do, he thinks and goes looking for Merlin to give him some work to do.

Meanwhile Gwen walks down the stairs to the dungeons where her former mistress is imprisoned.

As Morgana sees her maid she smiles.

"Gwen! It's so nice to see you!"

"Don't try to fool me Morgana."

"But Gwen, you're my friend. Haven't I always been good to you?"

"You tried to kill me!" Gwen shouts at her.

"That's not true. Believe me please. Tell Arthur he should set me free. Help me. Please"

"Why should I?"

"You owe me your loyalty at least." Morgana says with less patience in her voice.

"My loyalty is to Arthur. And he wants you to stay here." Gwen says coldly.

"You betrayed me. I thought men shouldn't come between best friends."

"We aren't best friends anymore."

"I can see that." Morgana sighs sadly.

Then she smiles.

"I heard Uther isn't well. Good. Whoever is responsible for this, I hope he or she will succeed.

"You're evil!" Gwen says with disgust in her voice. "You're worse than him."

With these words she turns on her heels, passing the guards and leaves the dungeons.

"We'll see who is still standing in the end." Morgana says and smirks.

~tbc~

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!

Anyway, the Merlin/Morgana hint wasn't planned, it just turned out, my stories always live on their own xD I'm wondering how long did you take to figure out Merlin and Morgana were both pretending (oh they're so good^^)….

So, I would love you so incredible much if you leave a little review^^

So we'll see us next chap, you may looking forward to it, Nimueh will make her appearance to Merlin finally^^


	4. a sacrifice for future's sake

Chapter 3: a sacrifice for future's sake

Merlin returns from his work for Arthur to his chambers and finds Gaius sitting over some big, old dusty books searching for an answer for the sudden illness of King Uther.

"Have you found anything yet?" Merlin asks.

"No, not yet" Gaius says and closes the book he was reading.

"I can't find any physical reason. It must've been the shock. But I really don't know…"

Merlin recognises a change in the tone in his last sentences what makes him start thinking about something. He stares into nothing for a while.

"And what if" he starts.

"What if it's magic? It would've been the first time."

"Why do you think that?" Gaius asks in surprise.

"I don't know. It's just a feeling. I've got to find out."

And yet he runs out of the room.

A little outside the city he summons the Great Dragon.

"What is it this time?" Kilgarrah asks as he lands in front of Merlin.

"I know you won't like it to help me this time but Uther's dying and I think magic is involved."

"You're right why should I help you to save my enemy?"

"Because I order it. Think what Arthur would do if his father dies and magic's the cause?"

"And if I refuse to help you?"

"Then I'm going to put you in chains again!"

"Alright then." Kilgarrha bows his head a little down to speak to Merlin.

"As you already guessed, Uthers enchanted and you need a magical potion to cure him."

"What potion?"

"One with a magical ingredient. Which is the venom of the Questing Beast."

"But I killed the Questing Beast" Merlin says confused.

"When the Beast dies, another one will be reborn. So I think I helped you enough."

"But where can I find it?"

Kilgarrah pretends to think if he should give the young warlock this information, too.

"I think I saw one near the Black Mountains. Good luck" and he spreads his giant wings and flies away.

Merlin returns and talks to Gaius about what he has just learned.

"If I didn't know it better I would have said it was Nimueh. Poisons and spells were her things." He laughs half hearted.

He takes out his magic book and searches for the spell while Gaius is looking for the ingredients that are needed for the potion.

"I'll do it tomorrow before dawn." Merlin says.

"Don't be silly Merlin!" Gaius protests at once. "You can't go alone. It's too dangerous."

"But I can't drag Arthur into this. Someone has to stay here. We can't leave Camelot unguarded again. Especially with Morgana here."

Gaius sees the point. He wants to add something.

"Trust me" Merlin cuts in.

This is the end of the discussion.

In the evening after dinner Merlin prepares everything for his upcoming journey in the morning. Suddenly the alarm bells ring and Merlin knows what happened.

Morgana escaped.

He leaves his things and runs outside but not towards the dungeons because he had seen the guards running from there. He crosses the court yard and runs towards the lower town trying to catch her up. He looks everywhere but Morgana is gone. Probably she had help or her powers simply had grown.

On his way back he meets Arthur and his knights, ordering some guards to search the lower town.

"Don't waste your time, she's gone." Merlin tells him.

"Damn" Arthur curses. "What are we doing now?"

Merlin sighs. "I fear there's nothing we can do at the moment,"

"We have to find her and bring her back again; I don't know what she is capable of to do."

"It's too dangerous" Merlin insists. "Besides, someone has to stay here."

Now it is Arthur's turn to sigh.

"By the way, has Gaius found out what's threatening my father?"

"Er.."

Suddenly Merlin feels bad. Seeing Arthur like this, exhausted and worried, he cannot lie to him.

"Yes. And I'll get the antidote in the morning."

"Ill get it!" Arthurs says immediately as he hears about the venom for the potion.

"It's dangerous." Gaius reminds him.

"I'll go." Merlin insists.

"Alright, I allow you to come with me." Arthur says to him.

An hour later Arthur and Merlin leave Camelot again, heading to the northwest and the borders of the Kingdom of Caerleon .

After a ride of few hours the landscape changes and becomes more hilly. And then the mountains come into sight.

"Thank god, we're near" Merlin sighs.

"What? are you already tired?"

"No I was just getting a little nervous." He answers, trying not to sound to scared.

"Why is that. You mean you're scared?" Arthur laughs.

"No, not at all." He pauses. "Ok, maybe a tiny little bit. I mean the last time we met a Questing Beast it almost killed you..and me..and whatever…"

"Alright. It must be here somewhere. Keep your eyes open."

"I'm not stupid."

Arthur laughs again and then falls silent immediately.

"What?" Merlin asks.

"Shht!" Arthur makes holding his finger to his lips.

"Is it the beast?"

"Shut up Merlin!"

Suddenly Merlin hears something. And it comes nearer. Arthur draws out his sword.

There was the Questing Beast running towards them with a loud noise. Arthur turns around grapping his sword tight and swings it around but the beast hit him with one move of his big paw. His sword flies more than 20 feet away crashing into a tree.

Arthur lies unconsciously on the ground. It all happened so fast that Merlin needs a second to realize what had happened at all.

"No!" he cries and the beast makes another attempt to attack him; this time while he was running towards Arthur. He had to get out of the way by jumping backwards. He stumbles over a root with a cry of pain and falls also to the ground.

The beast gets nearer roaring aloud. Merlin crawls a few feet away over the ground, scanning it for the sword.

The beast jumps towards him with another loud roar, baring his sharp teeth. Merlin rolls aside but the beast comes for him again and Merlin presses his eyes shut waiting for the end. Waiting for the teeth to cut him open, waiting for the pain and death to come. A strange silence falls suddenly over him and nothing happens. _Is he already dead?_ As another second passes in that nothing happens, Merlin hears footsteps and the noise of braking branches. The sound becomes louder and louder. He slowly and carefully opens his eyes and he looks around seeing the questing beast lying apparently dead a few metres away. Then a figure appears out of the mists that lie very close now around the trees.

It is a woman and she is slowly walking towards him.

"Who…?" and as she is approaching him and the dim light of the sun falls through the trees on her face, he recognises her.

"Nimueh?" he says perplex.

She smiles at him. "Merlin. I'm not surprised to see you here. But I think you are."

She laughs. "Long time no see."

"It's really a surprise. What are you doing here? And how…?"

"How I came back? It's the balance of the world nothing less.

Probably a powerful witch died so I came back."

"I hate the balance of the world" Merlin mumbles.

That makes Nimueh laugh again. "I see you don't like to see me back. What a pity. I was looking forward to see you again."

"Did you kill Questing Beast?"

She nods and kneels beside him. "Let me see your leg."

"What?"

"You're wounded."

"Uhm ,yeah."

She holds her hand above his wound and says: "Gestathole."

Merlin can watch the wound slowly closing and healing.

He looks at Nimueh in confusion. "Thank you." he mutters.

He gets up and turns to look after Arthur. He is still unconscious. Merlin lays him down in a more comfortable way and then looks at Nimueh again.

"Why did you help me?" Merlin asks.

"I haven't done it because I like you. I have not forgotten that you once killed me. But you're too important."

"Are you still here for your revenge?"

"Kind of" the witch responses.

"So why didn't you let us get killed?"

"I don't want you or Arthur to be killed. You're too valuable. It's Uther who has to die!"

"What are you talking about?

She laughs.

"Arthur has to become king you know that and you have to protect him, right? But that can't be possible as long as Uther lives."

"Maybe that's true," Merlin answers. "But that's my destiny. You can leave that to me!"

"No, you're wrong. Now it's my business, too. And I offer you again to work together with me."

"No, never!" Merlin shots at her.

She smiles.

"As you wish. But I'll warn you only once, be careful young warlock.

Bad times are coming."

"What are you talking about, yet again?"

"I saw it Merlin. The future you shall bring is in danger. Uther must die for the greater good."

"Don't worry. I tell you leave it to me. I'll protect Arthur and make him king!"

"Well, then, you know I warned you. If you should decide but to work with me, you just need to call me."

She smirks, then turns on her heels and disappears in the mists that lay around the valley.


	5. Choices part 1

**Sorry for the one day delay but I'm sick-.-**

**This tiem a short chapter, I splitted it in two parts so that I can make a update every week ;) I hope I get the next part longer.**

**Note that it's not beta read.**

**Chapter 4: Choices (part 1)**

Merlin returns from a near stream with his neckerchief drenched in water and cleans the wound on Arthur's head with it.

Arthur's still unconscious and Merlin is worried. But he still has to do something. He takes Arthurs sword and goes to the place where the dead Questing Beast is lying.

He takes a deep breath and stabs the sword into the beasts neck. He pulls the it out again and takes a vial out that he has brought with him and fills it with the blood that is dropping from the sword. He hopes that it will work.

Then he walks back to look after Arthur again.

"Come on, wake up!" he shakes him. But Arthur doesn't wake up.

After a while in which Merlin was getting the horses Arthur's conscience comes back, and he looks around with gloomy eyes. As he sees Merlin he sits up straight.

"What happened?" He asks holding his head.

"Oh, thank god" Merlin sighs in relief. He heads back to his master.

"The beast hit your head" he answers the question.

"What happened to the beast, I mean. Don't tell me you killed it."

He laughs slightly.

"No" Merlin laughs too, relieved that Arthur is ok. "Not this time" he adds in his thoughts.

"Who then?"

Merlin thinks for a while what to say.

"So how?" Arthur asks impatiently.

"A sorceress." Merlin replies truthfully.

Arthur just nods, he looks over to the dead Questing Beast and then back to Merlin.

"Do you have the venom?"

Merlin nods and holds up the vial with the blood.

"Great!" Arthur says and stands up quickly. A little too quickly because he stumbles, sways and Merlin can catch him before he falls.

He looks at his servant with a smile.

"Thanks" he says.

Merlin smiles back.

"We should go back to Camelot," Arthur says and goes to his horse.

They ride back very fast so Merlin has not much time to think about what Nimueh has said but it worries him and he wonders how far she would go to reach her aim and get her revenge on Uther this time.

Furthermore he wonders what she knows about the future.

Back in Camelot Merlin goes directly to Gaius to bring him the venom for the potion so that he can make the antidote as soon as possible.

Meanwhile Arthur is with his father as Gwen enters the room. She is startled as she sees him.

"Arthur, thank god!" she says relieved. But then she puts her hands to her hips, looking angrily.

"How often will you leave me here all worried again?"

"Sorry" Arthur replies and she smiles at him.

"How is he?" she looks at the Uther.

"Worse." Arthur looks down in sorrow.

"Gaius is working on the antidote. I hope it's ready soon. I don't know how much time he still has."

Gaius gives Uther the antidote and Merlin casts the spell. Soon Uther falls asleep. Arthur sits on his father bedside for the rest of the day.

As the king wakes again a few hours later he looks much better.

Step by step everything turns back to its usual way again. The only difference is that now everyone knows about the true nature of Morgana and everybody fears her return and what she is capable of to do then.

But Merlin has something else in his mind, too. Nimueh knows something that he does not. She has warned him about something that is going to happen in the future and Merlin is worried about it. He has to find out what she has meant.

Nimueh, well hidden in the forests, comes back from her trance she was in with a scream right at the moment when Uther awakes.

It was the vision again. But this time one thing was different; she has seen Morgana in it. Morgana and a boy. She doesn't know who he is. She closes her eyes again and concentrates to remember the vision. Then she suddenly recognizes him. It is the druid boy who has been to Camelot before. The boy of the prophecy who shall bring Arthurs death and Camelot's downfall. Not that she cares much about Camelot anymore.

But she wants her revenge on Uther and for that she needs Merlin on her side.

He is the only one who can stop her.

Besides, they have something in common. They have both great magical powers and they both want to bring magic back to the land of Albion.

And

But for this Uther has to die. No matter what.

It is not only about revenge anymore. The future of Albion depends on Merlin's decision. Without Merlin, magic cannot come back to the land and he better should not make her plans fail again. She even would kill Arthur if it is necessary.

She knows Merlin doesn't understand the extent of the danger that is to come yet. So she goes down to the stream fetching a bowl of water. Then she whispers a spell upon it. She can see Merlin asleep now. She holds her hand over the picture in the water and whispers another spell, sending Merlin a bad dream.

Merlin awakes heavy breathing and scared.

In the morning he tells Gaius about the dream he had that night.

"I think it was a vision. I think it was what Nimueh warned me about. And it scares the hell out of me."

Tbc~

**I'd love you for some reviews;)**


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